Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

It is very limited and restrictive in terms of implementation. The talks on Monday were with a view to bringing more flexibility into the issue. In our talks with immigration centres, it emerged that people on that agreement could eventually go to a better quality visa in the United States. I foresee a long hard slog in this respect with regard to refining existing arrangements and expanding them somewhat at some levels; this may apply to existing bilateral agreements.

In our talks with ILIR it was clear that given the electoral outcomes and political context in the United States, the issue will continue to be difficult. With the E-3 visa, the bilateral aspects come back into prime focus, as we see if we can develop that bilateral track with new representatives in Congress.

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